The Power of Hope and Love

In just a few short days, we will commemorate the 24th anniversary of 9/11.

I was in my first few days of seminary, and remember watching it unfold on a TV in a hallway at Saint Thomas, and then back in my dorm room. If you remember that day, it’s one of those days we all know where we were.

But from the horrors of that day, there were also so many incredible stories of the far greater power of hope and love that emerged.

For instance, there was the story of Fr. Mychal Judge, a longtime Franciscan priest and chaplain for the New York City Fire Department. He became the first certified fatality of the 9/11 attacks. He was with the firefighters to give them comfort and aid, and he was the first body to be taken out of the rubble. He saw what was going on that day and ran to the scene to help. It had been something he’d been doing for years, growing up in Brooklyn, eventually becoming a priest, and lived in a simple room which he was rarely in, because he was always doing ministry. Some 25 years prior to 9/11, Fr. Mychal was also bringing hope to people the world was afraid of – AIDS patients – anointing them and also sitting at their bedside to spend time with them, and celebrating their funerals. Becoming a chaplain he would be with firefighters in challenging times, he was always giving counsel and support to people in very difficult moments.

This hope is something I’ve seen many times come out of the darkness of difficult situations. Most recently here, as we’ve seen in the Annunciation tragedy in the many stories that have emerged, from the day itself with the kids helping other kids, to the incredible selflessness of Fr. Dennis Zehren trying to go towards the door to get between the danger and the kids, to the people helping one another that day afterwards and in the days that followed, and the outpouring of support we’ve seen from all around the country to people stopping by the church of Annunciation and praying silently outside.

It gets at something that I remind myself of over and over again, of the goodness in humanity. I see it not just at funerals, but in so many things that I observe around the parish, and also in confession where people are trying to become better and recognizing that they’ve made mistakes but want to change and are trying to take the steps to do so.

In the face of tragedies like we faced, we all ask that question “where are you God” or “why?”. And there are great books and articles out there on these topics, such as “The Problem of Pain” and “A Grief Observed” by C.S. Lewis, or “On the Christian Meaning of Human Suffering” an encyclical by Pope John Paul II, and “Where The Hell is God?” a book written by the Jesuit priest Fr. Richard Leonard to name a few. What I go back to is that God allows evil and suffering to happen, but in Christ, we see the God who stands by us, who humbles Himself to be born as one of us and to die as one of us. It changes the understanding of human suffering when we look to the Cross; all of our answers will be answered one day down the road, but when we look to that Cross, we see love, but we also think about how death and suffering do not have the last word, for Christ is victorious over that.

How do we though continue the fight on this earth? By not giving up. All of us, myself included, get sick of the things we see all around us daily; from the cruelty of people towards one another, the thoughtless actions of people, the greed and ways we treat one another. This is nothing new; we see it on full display every time we get to Holy Week. But a look deeper reminds us we can be people of hope – people who do not give up on the world, but choose to make a difference. And may we never forget what a difference we make when we do those simple actions of love and mercy. A prayer for a loved one, or better yet, with them. A phone call to say “we haven’t talked in so long” or to re-connect. An olive branch extended to end an old feud with someone in the family. Seeing past someone saying they are “fine” and sensing maybe they aren’t fine because of what they are going through at school or work or in life. Showing up at a funeral. Inviting someone to Mass. A conversation over a meal. Showing forgiveness. Giving of your time to help out your neighbor with their shoveling or bringing in their groceries. Admitting to a mistake we made with our loved ones and showing humility. This list goes on and on, but you add them up, and they bring hope into the world, one person at a time.

As I said in my homily, you can analyze a situation like Annunciation over and over again and say “if we do this” then we’ll prevent something like that. Nothing can be done to eliminate evil in the world, and sometimes we will be in the wrong place at the wrong time and the Devil will work through someone and corrupt them and they will do an evil act again. The answer is found in the Cross. The answer is found in looking to that and seeing what Jesus did for us, and realizing we have the power to do that too in different ways, becoming who it is we receive when we come forward for Holy Communion. Over our earthly journey, there will be more than one Good Friday we face, but let us never forget we are not alone, but are loved, and each one of us has the capacity to help those in need see what so many could not see or understand fully on that first Good Friday, namely the depths of God’s love for them. May we do that through our actions of love and hope, which do so much to bring light to our world.

Please join me in continuing to pray for the victims of the Annunciation tragedy, and for all those who were injured and for healing for all of those impacted.

God bless and have a blessed week,  ~Fr. Paul

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September 2025